The key facts

  • Former deputy mayor of Yekaterinburg Ilya Borzenkov has been charged after an escalator in his shopping mall tore off a child's arm
  • The tragedy occurred on August 19, 2025; the bones caught in the mechanism were crushed, and the arm could not be saved
  • According to the investigation, the owner failed to appoint a person responsible for escalator operation and did not fix malfunctions; he faces up to six years in prison

The case has gone to court more than a year after the incident

Former deputy mayor of Yekaterinburg and businessman Ilya Borzenkov will stand trial after an escalator in a shopping mall he owns tore off a child's arm. This was reported by the E1.ru portal, as cited by Gazeta.Ru: Borzenkov's name appears in the court's case registry as a defendant.

What happened on August 19, 2025

The tragedy occurred on August 19, 2025. According to witnesses, the child's arm was pulled into the escalator as the boy was riding down with his parents. Doctors were unable to save the arm: the bones caught in the escalator mechanism were severely crushed. A criminal case was opened over the incident under an article on providing services that fail to meet safety requirements for consumers' life or health and negligently caused grievous bodily harm.

The investigation's version and possible punishment

According to the investigation, the mall's owner sought to cut costs and committed violations: he failed to appoint a person responsible for organizing escalator operation and did not fix malfunctions. If found guilty, Borzenkov faces up to six years in prison. He himself refused to comment. The article ends with a mention of a similar case: in June 2025 in St. Petersburg, a two-year-old child's arm was sucked into an escalator at a metro station.